Ice-breaking machine.



A. G. KROGKBR.

ICE BREAKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, 1914.

o o 0 o Inn/m W070;

ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 30, 1915.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADOLF G. xnooxna, or WACO, Texas.

ICE-BREAKING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AnoLrG. Knoonnn,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Waco, in the county ofMcLennan and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Ice-Breaking Machines, of which the following is a specification.

' This invention relates to ice breaking machines, and one of theprincipal objects of the invention is to proyide a machine where-' bycakes of ice may be broken up into pieces of the desired dimensions, ina quick and accurate manner and with a minimum amount of waste. 1

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved ice breakingmachine including a top and bottom frame movable toward each other, andprovided with rows of prongs arranged according to the size of cakesdesired, means being provided Where-- construction, combination andarrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described,

and claimed and illustrated in the accomview of an ice breaking machineconstructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 repre sents an endelevational view thereof. Fig.

3 representsa fragmentary horizontal sectional View taken on theplaneindicated by the line 33 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 repre= sents a verticaltransverse sectional view taken on the plane indicated by the line 4-4of Fig. 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the machine includes a framework comprising corner uprights 5 connected at their opposite ends atthe front of the machine by the longitudinal upper and lower cross bars6 and 7 respectively, and at the rear of the machine by the longitudinalupper and lower cross bars 8 and 9 respectively. The

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 22, 1914. Serial No. 846,495.

upper ends of the uprights are further connected by end bars 10.

An ice rack which is stationary relatively to the main frame workcomprises end bars 11 secured at the ends of the machine between thecorner posts or uprights and in spacedrelation with the ground, said endbars 11 being connected by the longitudinal bars 12 which occur inspaced relation to each other and which support the blocks 13, whichblocks are secured to the bars 12 and upon which blocks cakes of ice asthey come from the factory are adapted to be placed in position to bebroken by the machine.

The breaker comprises an upper and lower frame A and B respectively,each of which is made in the form of a frame including longitudinal bars14: carrying at their ends blocks 15 adapted to slide in verticalgrooves 16 provided in the corner uprights, saidbars 14 being connectednear their ends by transverse bars 17, and the bars 14 and 17 areprovided with notches in their upper edges, for receiving the frame work6 comprising a central longitudinal bar 18 and cross bars 19, said frameC being provided with sharp pointed steel or iron prongs 19 which aredisposed in rows insuch relation as to determine the dimensions of thebroken pieces of ice. A frame 0 is carried by each of the frames A and Band the frames are provided with rows of rongs arranged similarly, saidframes 0 eing removable so that the frames A and B may be utilized forreceiving prong carrying frames of various arrangements whereby thecakes of ice may be broken up into pieces of various dimensionsaccording to the requirements in each particular case. l ,The frame Brests normally, or when out ofoperative position, upon the longitudinalbars 12 of the ice rack, the blocks 13 bei I ing arranged so that theydo not interfere with the u ward movement of frame B, saidblocks-13 eingof such a height that when the frame B is in lowered position the upperedges of the blocks are just above the. upper ends of the prongssupported by frame B so that a large cake of ice maybe placed upon theblocks above the prongs as will be readily understood, In order to raiseframe B at will, there is provided a treadle comprising side bars 20having a foot platform 21 connecting them at their outer ends, said bars20 provided centrally with transverse notches whereby they may' engageover the upper rounded edge 22 of the lower front cross bar 7, wherebysaid bar may act as a fulcrum for the treadle, the rear ends of the barsbeing connected by suitable links 23 with the lower breaker frame Bwhereby when the operator steps -on the platform 21 the breaker framewill be raised, thus projecting the prongs into the ice from beneath thesame. The upper breaker frame A is operated by means of a hand wheel 24carryinga screw 25 swiveled at its lower end in a socket 26 carried bycross bar 27 provided on the upper breaker frame A, said screw turningthrougha hearing 28 carried by a cross bar 29 disposed centrally andtransversely of the main frame and connected to the bars 6 and 8respectively.

necessary,

The operation of the device may be briefly described as follows: Thelower breaker frame B being in its lowered position, a cake of ice maybe placed upon the ice rack and the hand wheel turned to bring theprongs l9 carried by the upper breaker frame down upon the top surfaceof the ice, the operator at the same time stepping upon the platform 21,thus raising the prongs carried by the lower breaker frame intoengagement with the under surface of the ice, and upon further rotationof the screw if the ice will be broken into chunks of the desired sizeand with a minimum of waste.

Although I have described the preferred embodiment of my'invention, Imay desire to make such changes in the construction, combination andarrangement of parts thereof as do not depart from the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the appended claims. v

I claim:

I. Anice breaking machine of the class described comprising a mainframe, an ice rack secured to said main frame, a lower breaker framemovable relatively to the ice rack, a rack removably carried by thebreaker frame and-having cutters, a foot treadle fulcrumed on the mainframe, links connecting said treadle with the lower breaker frame, anupper breaker frame disposed above the lower breaker frame and adaptedto slide relatively to the main frame, frame.

2. An ice breaking machine comprising a main frame, an ice rack securedthereto, an

upper and a lower breaker frame, means for slidably supporting saidbreaker frames relatively to the main frame, prongs carried by saidupper and lower breaker frames and projecting toward each other, saidice rack including blocks adapted when the lower frame is.in loweredposition to receive and maintain a cake of ice above the lower frame, atreadle for moving said lower frame upwardly into engagement with theice, and a hand screw for moving the upper frame downwardly intoengagement with the ice. i

3. In an ice breaking machine, a stationary ice rack comprising a seriesof spaced blocks, a lower breaker frame movable relatively to the icerack and provided with prongs disposed between the blocks and below theupper surface thereof when the lower frame is in lowered position, meansi for operating said lower frame for pro ecting the prongs above theblocks at will, and an upper breaker frame provided with prongs andmovable toward the ice rack.

4:. An ice breaking machine including a main frame, an ice racksupported thereby, said rack comprising end bars secured to the mainframe, and longitudinally spaced bars supported by the end bars, blockssupported by the longitudinal bars, and a breaker frame, said framecomprising end bars adapted to rest upon the longitudinal bars of theice rack, side bars to which the end bars are connected, cooperatingmeans between the side bars and main frame for slidably positioning thebreaker frame relatively to the main frame, and a prongcarrying frameremovably positioned on the breaker frame, and means for raising andlowering said frame when in lowered position being below the upper edgesof said blocks.

ADOLF G. KROCKER.

Witnesses:

TOM M. HAMILTON, R. Q. MURPHREE.

and means for operating the upper breaker frame, said breaker

